mlenoch

Sounds like you are current in bird. Just took my shoes off to count
and last flew the bird 54 years ago at Miho Japan (35 Ftr Sq, 8th Ftr
Gp) )

Flew D10 to D30's and K's. Had guns and full load of ammo and armor
plate behind pilot. This additonal weight required a little more speed
as I remember (maybe 325-350???)

Slow on top and G's causes the laminer flow wing to stall (and bird
snap) as sounds like you have found out ) Inverted spins took some
altitude to recover.

During WWII birds were red lined at 505 mph. We got a directive about
1947 that reduced the red line to 450 mph to put less wear and tear on
the birds. Are you still using the 450?

We used 61-3000 and 145 octane fuel for take off and were told that
that power was needed to keep the engine clean?

Talking to a jock at Ellington some years ago, he said the 51's now
were using 45-50 inches for T/O (easier on engines)? Or may be the
lower octane fuel available now???

I enjoyed my 650 hours in the bird.

Big John

On 27 Oct 2003 02:53:33 GMT, (MLenoch) wrote:

It flies best with an initial pull of 4 G. G is not constant during the loop.
It may be half a G at the top. On cooler days, I can fly the loop at 3 Gs for
the initial pull; it is easier on the 50+ year old wing. But, when not doing
low level airshow loops, 3 G loops are always OK at higher altitudes. The
problem is getting too slow at the top, which is uncomfortable during an
airshow display.
VL